After the violence,the unease

“Now nothing will be the same. A police station has been attacked and people fear retribution,” says Sajid Hussain,chairman of the Nagar Parishad. “Several have left their homes,particularly the young boys.” He adds Masuri depended on industries for jobs and the violence had set the town and perhaps even the region back at least 10 years.

The charred,twisted wreckage of what were once five motorcycles lies in the middle of the Masuri police station,which stands battered on the National Highway 24,some 18 km from Ghaziabad. This hunk of metal cannot be moved or even touched for it is now police evidence and just one reminder of the violence last week.

The reminders are many —the soot-blackened walls of the police barracks on the left and residential quarters on the right,a ragged line of bullet holes across the notice board and the absence of a single pane of glass. There is also a room,once the duty office,now scorched,where more evidence — stones and rocks — is stored.

“We will never forget that day,” says sub-inspector Ramesh Chandra. “We were only a handful,armed mainly with lathis,and the mob numbered in the thousands. They were armed with guns,sticks,stones and even homemade firebombs.”

It is now the people who are scared. The most common question is still,“What happened?” And the answer usually is,“I don’t know,I was not there.”

Since the violence,schools in the region have remained shut. A local schoolteacher says,“We were too afraid to enter the colonies for a few days. For two days now we have opened the school,but the students have not come.”

It is only after the promise of anonymity that most residents of Masuri agree to speak. They fear if they are identified,the police will come next. One resident,who has lived here since the 1970s,says he received a call on September 14 at around 2.30 pm. “A friend of mine called screaming about the Quran. He said someone had written abuses on the book and it had been found near the railway tracks. I knew this was an attempt at causing trouble,but I had to see what had happened,” he said.

His neighbours echo his sentiments but are quick to claim they never left their houses. Though curfew was relaxed recently,Masuri town’s main road wears a deserted look. “Many left their homes a day after the violence and still more left after the police FIR into the violence said 5,000 people were involved,” the local said.

Police sources believe word of the pages had spread across a 5-km radius around the police station in a matter of hours. “Investigations reveal that the message spread through mobile phones,text messages and word of mouth. It spread so far that we believe the mob included people from faraway cities,” an official says.

The farther away we travel from the epicentre of the incident,the more the stories change. In Nahal,several bumpy kilometres off NH-24,people claim the desecrated pages were in fact thrown in front of the Rafiqabad mosque. A local trader only offers,“Somebody,I do not know who,called and said our religion had been insulted and that we should gather at the police station.” He is quick to add that he ignored the invitation.

And in Rafiqabad,the locals are disheartened. “This is a well educated colony; there are engineers,lawyers,bankers and professionals here. We do our work and come back home. Now this incident has scarred us forever,” says a resident.

The colony came up in the 1990s and is home to those primarily working in the NCR — Delhi,Noida and Ghaziabad — and not in Masuri.

The violence

The police believe the Quran’s pages were first found beside the railway tracks by a group of boys. “Investigations show the boys handed the pages over to a man,who took them to the Rafiqabad mosque and gave them to muezzin Abdul Qadir at about 1 pm (on September 14),” an official says.

Qadir,who joined the mosque in May this year,says he showed the pages to the imam,Mujibur Rehman. “I did not know what to do,so I called the imam and some elders and showed them the pages. This was after Friday prayers,at about 2 pm,” Qadir says. He adds a debate raged for a few hours over what should be done with the pages — bury them as is customary or take them to the police.

While discussions went on inside,a crowd gathered outside. A local shopkeeper says,“It was Friday,so there were many people who had come to the mosque. They first gathered here and in an hour or so at least a hundred others,whom I had not seen before,were at the masjid asking about the Quran.”

By 6 pm,Qadir claims a group of people,who included only a few he recognised,forced him to take the pages to the police station. “We reached the police station by around 6.30 pm,but it took at least an hour to register a complaint. By then a larger group of people had gathered outside the police station,” Qadir says.

To complicate matters,Masuri was hosting its Friday bazaar. According to the police,those in the market,many just customers and bystanders,added to the mob’s numbers.

As the crowd swelled,Nagar Parishad chairman Hussain was informed. “I was told something had happened and went to the police station. We discussed it with the police,who claimed action would be taken. However,the crowd outside,increasing every minute,were demanding immediate action,” Hussain says. He adds that by 7.30 pm the restive crowd began pelting stones and soon full-blown violence erupted.

A senior police official lauds Hussain’s role. “He has been a local leader for 18 years and is well respected. He and some other elders were trying to calm the mob but they refused to listen. After a while the crowd began accusing Hussain of supporting the police and assaulted him,” he says. He adds the police immediately took shelter in the main office,where 20 people were crammed into a space not wider than an elevator.

Eyewitnesses claim the mob torched buildings next to the police station and then assaulted the main office. “We were crammed there and the crowd was trying to get in. With no option,we opened fire and it was only then that they dispersed,” says an official.

The aftermath

Things have never been the same in Masuri since.

“First our business was ruined,several shops were looted,some even burned. Then we could not raise our shutters because of the curfew and now people will forever be afraid of Masuri,” says a local construction contractor. He adds that the construction business is an integral part of the town,but now clients are wary of dealing with them.

In Pipleda village,across the road from the Masuri police station,locals feel the violence has threatened their livelihood. “There are several industries in this area,a few kilometres off the NH. The economy of this town and its expansion depends on industry. Now who will come to this region?” says a property dealer.

A newlywed,who recently moved from Gahzaiabad to Pipleda,says her parents now want her to move back with them. “I just got a job here as a schoolteacher and now this has happened. But my parents are worried,so I might move back to Ghaziabad for at least a few months,” she says.

One striking feature of the violence was the involvement of teenagers. Among the six who died were teens Lukman,14,Mohammed Arif,18,and Amir Khan,16. The other three were Wahid,20,Wasim,22,and Hayat,35.

“I was standing there between the mob and the police and all I could see were very young,angry faces. Many looked between the ages of 15 and 19. I do not know what has happened to them,” Hussain says. He adds a peace or aman committee had been formed and they would work hard to reach out to the youth.

Photographic evidence with the police backs up Hussain’s observations. Sources in the police state that they have collected photographs from the media present on that day. “Many of those involved were young,impressionable youths. We believe they were egged on by those who possibly instigated the riot. The most important thing right now is to determine who caused this situation,” says a police official.

“We have so much to do. Rebuild trust,calm the youth,repair our image,make peace with the police. It will take time,but we will get there,” Hussain says.

Meanwhile,recent police investigations show a similar attempt at disturbing the peace,in Pilkhuwa,some 15 km from Masuri,was made last month,but failed. A senior police official said,“That too is being investigated. Then,cooler heads prevailed,so nothing happened. Masuri might not even be the last such attempt.”

TIMELINE

12:30 pm An unidentified group of youths picks up torn pages of the Quran,with words and a phone number scrawled on it,from the Adhyatmik Nagar Halt railway station. The pages have allegedly been thrown from a train.

12:45 pm The boys hand the pages over to another person,also unidentified,who takes it to the Rafiqabad Colony mosque.

1 pm The papers are handed over to the muezzin

2 pm After Friday prayers,Qadir hands them over to the imam. Discussions start on how to deal with the pages.

3-5:30 pm A group starts collecting at the mosque; they want to take the torn pages to the police station. News spreads across a 5-km radius around the Masuri police station.

6 pm: A group of around 50 people start asking the imam to accompany them to the police station,who refuses. They force the muezzin to accompany them.

6:15 pm: The group travels towards the police station and temporarily blockades National Highway 24. Elders of the community including the Nagar Parishad chairman also make their way to the police station.

6:30-7:30 pm: An initial complaint,signed by Matik-ur Rehman is torn up,and a fresh one written which muezzin Abdul Qadir is made to sign. The crowd becomes increasingly restive.

7:30 pm: Violence begins. By now,the crowd is close to 5,000 people who set fire to cars,and pelt stones at the police station.

8:30 pm: With the crowd attacking the 30 people in the police station,police retaliate. Reinforcements from Police Armed Constabulary and Rapid Action Force arrive.